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Out-of-School Time Curriculum

Working in collaboration with talented youth workers and educators, Sprockets and SPPS Community Education teamed up to develop a dynamic set of out-of-school time curriculum that supports youth success in Saint Paul. Designed to be both engaging and effective, the following curriculum parameters were established:

Daily reflection opportunity for youth participants

Inclusion of multiple learning styles and cultures

Individual and group work for youth participants

Academics (reading and math) embedded into enrichment curriculum

Opportunities for youth to take the lead and make decisions

Opportunities for youth to share, perform, or teach-out

Suggestions for increasing and decreasing difficulty for each session

Keeping in mind that some providers might not be looking to implement an entire curriculum, we designed these materials to be suitable for pulling out standalone activities as well. We further encourage you to adapt the materials to suit the passions and interests of your youth participants. Many of the curriculum are created with spaces for youth design, decision making and voice; however, the nature of a curriculum document cannot speak to the many ways that an outstanding youth worker or educator can inspire and conspire with the specific youth in front of them.

Puppets for literacy skills, rollercoasters for engineering know-how, improv theater for understanding government, dance to explore heritage – there’s something for every young person to find out what moves them. Have fun!

Grades 1 to 2

Youth will focus on key math standards through fun and exciting cooking activities. Each participant will work together to create recipes, learn basic cooking skills, meet new friends, and make a delicious meal every day.

Youth will enhance their literacy skills by creating original puppet performances. After reviewing critical story elements, youth will create a mini-me version of themselves in puppet form with papier-mâché, paint, and fabric. In small groups, they will map out and perform their stories.

Youth will explore movement and dance in a multidisciplinary setting. The course will cover many forms of dance and the cultures from which each dance form originates. Youth will be provided opportunities to create their own dance reflecting their backgrounds.

Youth will explore leadership by understanding key terms as well as participating in get-to-know-you games and team-building activities. They will read a short story about leadership, develop a mini community action project and create a personal journal on leadership. Supplemental book: Jonni and Tray

Grades 3 to 5

What is your super power and how would you use it to make the world a better place? We will begin by exploring some of the most famous fictional superpeople and then dive into stories of real-life youth who are making a positive impact in their community. Youth will explore creating both a fictional super-identity for themselves and practicing using their real-life powers and skills to impact things they care about.

Designed to engage youth in the story writing processes, readers of all levels will see the excitement of meeting a new friend and getting a glimpse into their world. The whole group will read the same chapter book, using a mixture of small groups, larger groups, individuals, and pairs.

Youth will enhance their literacy skills by creating original puppet performances. After reviewing critical story elements, youth will create a puppet character with papier-mâché, paint, and fabric. In small groups, they will map out and perform their stories.

Youth will explore St. Paul and Minneapolis in a whole new light by comparing the Twin Cities when settlers lived on the lands to the Twin Cities in the present day. Youth will invent, build, create, write, research, explore, and become architects. They’ll also learn about some of St. Paul and Minneapolis’s spookiest places.

Youth will use improvisational theater games and techniques, as well as other non-fiction resources, to learn about the three branches of U.S. government and the passing of laws. Participants will create a skit highlighting the interactions of the three branches of U.S. government in the passing of a new law.

Grades 6 to 8

Participants will learn about a variety of foods from around the world through activities that develop math, geography, teamwork building, and critical thinking skills. Participants will cook, eat, play, and learn as they move through a series of games, group activities, and cooking exercises that engage the mind and stimulate the taste buds!

This course combines orienteering, printmaking, storytelling, and treasure hunting. Participants will learn how to use a compass, measure distances with a pacing chart, and carve a simple printing block for use in a letterbox stamp. Youth will find a local letterbox “cache,” make their own weatherproof case, and write directions for finding the cache.

Sprockets is a strong network of after-school and summer programs for kids and teens in Saint Paul. It’s a collaboration of community organizations, the City of Saint Paul and Saint Paul Public Schools.